Matchday 27 review – points dropped.

It was another disappointing weekend for St Pauli, who faltered again in the race for promotion. The good news is that so did Fortuna Dusseldorf and Paderborn, although this perhaps makes the 0-0 draw at home to Cottbus even more frustrating. The bad news is that Greuther Furth and Eintracht Frankfurt are storming away with the automatic promotion places, and with probably the two easiest run-ins going into the final weeks of the season, it is difficult to see how anyone is going to catch the top two now. Does any of the chasing pack want promotion? Dusseldorf, St Pauli, Paderborn and 1860 Munich have all slipped up in recent weeks.

It’s not often a dull match watching St Pauli, but Sunday’s game was an exception to that rule. Infact the most excitement came in the first 2 minutes, with a goalmouth scramble falling to Boll on the edge of the box who forced a very good save from the Energie Cottbus ‘keeper. From them on though, St Pauli looked void for ideas, even with the returning Marius Ebbers starting upfront. It seems to be a lack of confidence in the final third that has halted our progress, the quick passing style we saw in the first half of the season has disappeared, and the team looks nervous when they get in and around the opponent’s box. With Kruse as out of form having had a great start to the season, it’s hard to see where the goals will come from as we go into the final weeks of the season. Perhaps there is also an issue with teams figuring out how to combat our attacking play, with teams sitting deeper, stopping our wingers having space meaning we find it difficult to get behind opponents. Hopefully the return to full fitness of Ebbers will rejuvenate our attacking play, we’ll have to wait and see.

There really wasn’t much else to discuss after the goalless draw, the game had very few chances from either side, a midfield battle with no winner. So it’s onto Dusseldorf on Monday evening, who themselves could only manage a point at home to Eintracht Braunschweig. Dusseldorf sit 2 points ahead of St Pauli in the playoff position, so it’s fair to say that the game is pivotal to the rest of the season. Dusseldorf have struggled of late too, and the game will be an interesting one. Dusseldorf are very attacking at home, but this will mean there’ll be more space for St Pauli to counter attack – which could suit our playing style. As if the game wasn’t exciting enough, I’m delighted to say I’ll be there on Monday evening. I hope I’m still excited at full time.

Still, it could be worse, you could support Hansa Rostock. With only 2 wins all season, they look set for an immediate return to the 3rd division after losing 1-0 at home to Aue on Sunday. Finally, in the prediction competition this week, @Bucanero1910 scored 8 points. A decent total so well done! Here’s all the results: